I know what it is like to be a valued member of a high school soccer team. I am the starting junior varsity goalie for Foothill Technology High School, and the starting goalie on the Ventura Football Club. I know the feeling of pride that being a goalie brings but also the disappointment.
As a goalie, one can either win the game, as a result of many successful blocks, and no one would give a second look, or lose the game by missing just one shot too many, and have people place the blame on you, the goalie, for the loss. Even though there is difficulty in the position, I am very happy that I play the position.
The feeling I get when I walk out onto the field with people cheering is the best feeling one can get, well almost. The shrill whistle that blows to signal the start of the game is like an ice cold blast of wind. As the game progress, there are the exhilarating moments when the other team takes a shot, and then the best feeling happens, blocking the shot. There are also the boring moments of having the ball at the other end of the field and there is no action in front of me, when suddenly, the right kick is made by the other team, and the exhilarating moment comes sailing back along with the ball! There is a great release, and a great pleasure, for me when I run out to the ball, grab it into my arms, and drop kick it half way down the field to my waiting teammate!
The feeling I get when the opposing team makes an amazing shot and the ball slams into the back of the net is a bad feeling. Even worse of a feeling is when I know I could have prevented a goal by either running out for the ball or jumping a little bit higher. But when those feelings happen to the other goalie, it is a great feeling! Playing against teams in the same division as Foothill, Division 7, is pretty fun and not that hard, but playing teams like Rio Mesa High School or Camarillo High School, which are Division 1 teams, are hard and challenging games to play. In our games against Rio Mesa and Camarillo we were crushed by their Division 1 abilities. But playing against Fillmore High School and Buena High School, who are Division 4 and Division 1 teams, was pretty fun and intense. We beat Buena High School 2-1, scoring the winning goal in the last five minutes of the game! It was a great game and an exhilarating feeling to win against a Division 1 team! We lost 0-1 against Fillmore High School. However, it was a great game because we had several exciting opportunities to win, but we just couldn’t pull it off. Even so, it was still a really fun game.
With my Ventura Football Club team, we lost every single game except one, which we tied. That was definitely not fun, but I got a lot of practice stopping the other team’s shots, which made me a better goalie for high school. In those games I made twenty to thirty saves each game. The most saves I ever made was forty-seven saves in one game, and we lost, 2-0. Even though we lost I had a great season, and we didn’t finish last in our division, we finished fifth out of six!
I can tell someone what it is like to be a high school soccer player. I hope to be able to tell someone what it is like to be a college goalie, and then what it is like to be a professional goalie, but I’ll cross that road when I get there. For now I am striving to win every league game for Foothill and hope to play on the varsity team next year. That is what I know about being a goalie.
As a goalie, one can either win the game, as a result of many successful blocks, and no one would give a second look, or lose the game by missing just one shot too many, and have people place the blame on you, the goalie, for the loss. Even though there is difficulty in the position, I am very happy that I play the position.
The feeling I get when I walk out onto the field with people cheering is the best feeling one can get, well almost. The shrill whistle that blows to signal the start of the game is like an ice cold blast of wind. As the game progress, there are the exhilarating moments when the other team takes a shot, and then the best feeling happens, blocking the shot. There are also the boring moments of having the ball at the other end of the field and there is no action in front of me, when suddenly, the right kick is made by the other team, and the exhilarating moment comes sailing back along with the ball! There is a great release, and a great pleasure, for me when I run out to the ball, grab it into my arms, and drop kick it half way down the field to my waiting teammate!
The feeling I get when the opposing team makes an amazing shot and the ball slams into the back of the net is a bad feeling. Even worse of a feeling is when I know I could have prevented a goal by either running out for the ball or jumping a little bit higher. But when those feelings happen to the other goalie, it is a great feeling! Playing against teams in the same division as Foothill, Division 7, is pretty fun and not that hard, but playing teams like Rio Mesa High School or Camarillo High School, which are Division 1 teams, are hard and challenging games to play. In our games against Rio Mesa and Camarillo we were crushed by their Division 1 abilities. But playing against Fillmore High School and Buena High School, who are Division 4 and Division 1 teams, was pretty fun and intense. We beat Buena High School 2-1, scoring the winning goal in the last five minutes of the game! It was a great game and an exhilarating feeling to win against a Division 1 team! We lost 0-1 against Fillmore High School. However, it was a great game because we had several exciting opportunities to win, but we just couldn’t pull it off. Even so, it was still a really fun game.
With my Ventura Football Club team, we lost every single game except one, which we tied. That was definitely not fun, but I got a lot of practice stopping the other team’s shots, which made me a better goalie for high school. In those games I made twenty to thirty saves each game. The most saves I ever made was forty-seven saves in one game, and we lost, 2-0. Even though we lost I had a great season, and we didn’t finish last in our division, we finished fifth out of six!
I can tell someone what it is like to be a high school soccer player. I hope to be able to tell someone what it is like to be a college goalie, and then what it is like to be a professional goalie, but I’ll cross that road when I get there. For now I am striving to win every league game for Foothill and hope to play on the varsity team next year. That is what I know about being a goalie.